Cover image courtesy of Swettenham Stud

While the filly retain-to-race strategy will be more pronounced in the coming years, Swettenham’s city-winning mare Energy Within (Toronado {Ire}) has returned to her place of birth for a maiden mating with debut shuttle stallion Wooded (Ire).

“We’re now breeding with a lot more fillies that we’re retiring off the track rather than going out and buying mares, as we’re more keen to bring our own through,” Swettenham Stud’s General Manager Sam Matthews told TDN AusNZ.

“With the strength of the market, we thought we would rather keep the fillies we breed, sell the colts and then sometimes sell the mare once we get a nice filly out of her to keep it turning over.

“So, we’ve got about 40 (fillies and mares) out there at the moment that we are racing, and some will retire to our broodmare band and some will be sold.”

One-size-fits-all

Energy Within isn’t an outlier, with Swettenham to send all of its Toronado (Ire) mares to Wooded this upcoming breeding season on the basis that the mating produces a triple cross of Gone West (USA).

Swettenham emphasise pedigree over physicality when deciding on which stallion to use, with Matthews saying they go back seven generations to ensure each mare gets the best chance at success.

Out of the G1 Robert Sangster S. runner-up Hidden Energy (Dehere {USA}), Energy Within, who has finished fifth at Group 3 level, hails from a pedigree enriched in stakes success, with G2 Kewney S. heroine Starelle (More Than Ready {USA}) and G1 Vinery Stud S. runner-up Solicit (Street Cry {Ire}) featuring in the second generation of her family.

“Toronado had a stakes winner (Peekaboo) the other night that was 4 X 4 Gone West, so you get a triple cross of Gone West with any Toronado mare going to Wooded,” Matthews said.

“So, that works very well and we will send all of our Toronado mares to Wooded this season without exception.”

Not only does Energy Within work with Wooded from a pedigree perspective, she also suits the imposing son of Wootton Bassett (GB) physically.

“She’s a beautiful mare; while on pedigree it works, she does need a stallion with a bit of leg and for her first foal we want to send her to a stallion with a bit of substance,” Matthews said.

“We thought Wooded was a great mating as there’s nothing else on our roster that compares with him for a mare like her, and we also wanted to support our first-season stallion with a very well-bred mare with a current pedigree that continues to update.”

Wooded, a winner of the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp, will suit more than just Toronado mares, according to Matthews.

“There’s a huge amount of options with Wooded, and, now that we’ve run a lot of pedigrees through, there is very few that don’t work with him,” Matthews said.

“He’s a 1000 metre Group 1 winner that stands at 16.2 hands high, so, type-wise you can send anything Danehill-line like those Not A Single Doubt and Snitzel mares.

“So, it does make it very easy for us with the abundance of Danehill-line mares in Australia to find a mating that works well with our four outcross stallions, including Wooded.”

The presence of four outcross stallions on Swettenham’s six-strong roster is no coincidence.

Gallery: The three sire who, along with Wooded (Ire), make up the quartet of outcross stallions at Swettenham Stud in 2022

Wooded, along with barnmates Toronado, I Am Immortal and Puissance De Lune (Ire) fit this outcross mould, while Rubick and Highland Reel (Ire) don’t carry Danehill blood.

“They’re (outcross stallions) certainly something that we try to find, but, if there’s an outstanding racehorse who’s not an outcross, we’re more than happy to look at them," Matthews said.

“But as a preference if we can have an outcross stallion we would take that if there were two similar stallions to pick from, as something that isn’t Danehill line opens up a lot more options from a pedigree point of view."

Quality over quantity

Swettenham will continue to prioritise quality over quantity when managing marquee stallion Toronado’s book.

They are continuing to work through exactly which internal mares he will cover this season but there is a possibility that Seagrove (Exceed And Excel) could return for her fourth consecutive cover after her first foal by Toronado, a filly, sold for $145,000 at this year's Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.

She has an 'outstanding' colt by Toronado on the ground and is currently in foal to him.

However, she could end up visiting Rubick or be traded, with each outcome potentially dependent on how her juvenile gelding by Hellbent performs when stepping out on debut for trainer Anthony Chibnall in the coming weeks.

“We can’t fault any of the foals that she (Seagrove) has had, so we thought we’d continue to go back to him (Toronado),” Matthews said.

“However, it is probably a bit of a stretch to go to Toronado again at the $80,000 (service fee) unless there’s a little pedigree update in the meantime.

“But the foals she leaves are really nice, she’s a big mare, so she needs something like Toronado that isn’t too tall.”

Placed at three, Seagrove’s first foal Lord Pierro (Pierro) is a winner, while her filly Choix De La Mer (Extreme Choice), who is trained by Peter and Paul Snowden, finished third in a Wyong maiden earlier this year.

Seagrove is a sister to the G2 Ajax S.-placed San Diego and a half-sister to the Listed Gosford Takeover Target S. runner-up Soledad (Commands).

G1 Australia S. heroine Hill Of Grace (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}) features alongside G3 Rough Habit Plate winner Purple Sector (NZ) (Pins) in the second generation of her pedigree.

Matthews has ruled out the possibility of Rain Cloud (Domesday) returning to Toronado this upcoming season despite the operation having an opinion of her daughter Queen Air (Toronado {Ire}), an unraced 2-year-old, who they leased to Lindsey Smith and Chris Wells.

Rain Cloud threw a filly by I Am Immortal last season and she will return to I Am Invincible’s only dual stakes-winning juvenile colt.

“Queen Air is leased out and raced in partnership with Chris Wells, and because we already have a Toronado filly we probably wouldn’t race two full sisters,” Matthews said.

“We don’t want to race two or three daughters of the same mare because once we have a part of the family we don’t need to control it all.

“Also, pedigree-wise, she doesn’t compare with the other mares Toronado has booked and commercially if it was a breeder calling me about Rain Cloud I’d say she’d be a fair way down his list, so we’d rather spend the $12,500 on I Am Immortal.”

Equiano Gals getting their chance

Stormy Gal, an unraced half-sister to Trust In A Gust, by Swettenham’s former resident stallion Equiano (Fr), will return to either Highland Reel or I Am Immortal.

Currently in foal to Galileo’s (Ire) seven-time Group 1 winner Highland Reel, Stormy Gal has a ‘lovely’ soon-to-be-yearling colt by I Am Immortal on the ground.

“Because she’s been to I Am Immortal and is in foal to Highland Reel we wanted to see how the I Am Immortal grew out, and because we have the stallions here we can wait a bit closer to game time and don’t have to be as forward-thinking,” Matthews said.

“We will just wait and see what the Highland Reel looks like but it’ll be pretty hard to compete with the I Am Immortal out of her as it’s a really nice colt.”

Another Equiano mare in Bella Ava, who is currently in foal to Rubick, will also be given the chance to foal down before a final decision is made on whether she goes back to Rubick or Puissance De Lune.

Bella Ava, a winner over 1100 metres, foaled down a ‘nice’ colt by Puissance De Lune last season and has a juvenile gelding and a 3-year-old filly by Toronado with trainers Wayne Walters and Mitch Beer respectively.

“She’s mid-range in terms of size, she’s got a good pedigree, the Shamardal and Acclamation cross works very well, which is why she’s visited Puissance (De Lune) previously,” Matthews said.

“A couple of her progeny have looked like they’ll get out over more of a trip, so we thought Rubick would sharpen her up a bit and because she’s not necessarily a sprinting or middle-distance mare we’re happy to experiment until something clicks.”

Rubick to click

Lope De Vega (Ire) mare Santa Fe, who is currently in foal to Rubick after producing a colt by Highland Reel, is all but certain to return to the son of Encosta De Lago.

The unraced mare's first foal by Toronado, Celtic Hero, was purchased by Griffiths de Kock Racing and Peter Ford Bloodstock (FBAA) for $105,000 at last year's Inglis Ready2Race Sale.

“She’s a really imposing Lope De Vega mare and Rubick’s not a heavy horse, physically he suits her as she’s big and from a speed perspective it also works,” Matthews said.

“Lope De Vega-wise and with other things in her pedigree that work well through the Encosta De Lago line make it a good match.”

Matthews is confident Rubick, who relocated from Coolmore to Swettenham ahead of last year's breeding season, can ascend the sires’ standings in the years to come after covering 263 mares in 2018 and 262 in 2019.

He said they will continue to support him with other nice mares of their own.

“He’s (Rubick) had 11 individual 2-year-old winners this season off a $16,500 service fee and his progeny that are about to turn two were conceived off a $38,500 service fee,” Matthews said.

“The quality of mares were better, there’s 170-odd coming through that are about to turn two, which in my opinion makes him the best punt in Australia as he’s got the numbers and quality.

“And that is something very few stallions that you can get into for $20,000 boast, which is what the smart breeders are starting to work out and I expect a lot of people to follow suit and jump on board.”

Options remain open

Swettenham have no qualms about sending mares to external stallions despite the main focus being to support its current roster.

Matthews said they hold shares in numerous out-of-house stallions but don’t use them for the sake of it.

“Primarily we buy or have mares to suit our stallions, historically we have tried to support them with a number of mares and focus on what works internally and whether they warrant the service fee, which means we won’t throw a $1000 mare at an $80,000 stallion,” Matthews said.

“But typically we send 80 per cent of our mares to our stallions and 20 per cent out, this year we will probably send more to our boys as that’s the way it's fallen, but we usually try to punt something first season, on the up or that stands at what we believe to be great value.”

Table: Swettenham Stud’s mating plans for 2022

Whether you’re breeding to race or breeding to sell, we’d love to hear from you! Over the coming weeks we’ll be featuring a selection of mating plans for 2022; to be featured reach out to Lydia at lydia@tdnausnz.com.au

Cover image courtesy of EquiSport Photos

Based at Three Chimneys in Kentucky, the son of Candy Ride (Arg) will be available to breeders in the Southern Hemisphere at a fee of US$75,000 (AU$109,700).

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Since retiring to the breeding barn in 2018, Gun Runner has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the U.S. stallion ranks and with only two crops of racing age, the stallion is already the sire of 12 stakes winners and they are spearheaded by five top-flight winners including Early Voting (USA), who took out this season’s G1 Preakness S., the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown.

Three Chimneys’ Vice Chairman, Doug Cauthen told TDN AusNZ that the team believed the stallion had all the attributes to make him a successful sire in the Southern Hemisphere.

“The decision to make the stallion available to cover Southern Hemisphere time is two-fold; firstly, there have been a lot of enquiries about him and we have some matings booked already,” he said.

“Secondly, on a limited basis, we want to try to introduce him into the market because we believe he has all the potential to be a successful Southern Hemisphere (sire) as well. The limited book is to try and keep the quality high so he has a fair introduction into the market.

"This is really to give it a legitimate first run with hopefully quality mares and enough quantity to introduce him to the market, but not carte blanche.”

Staggering start at stud

With 53 winners from 97 starters under his belt, three of which have come in Japan, Gun Runner’s winners to runners strike-rate stands at 54.6 per cent, while the 12 stakes winners means he fires at a staggering 12.4 per cent for stakes winners to runners.

The 30 winners, headed by six stakes scorers, he was represented by in his first crop saw him crowned America’s Champion First Season Sire by winners and earnings in 2021 with G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Echo Zulu (USA) coming out on top of his progeny in terms of prizemoney.

“When you look at his pedigree, with Giant’s Causeway and Candy Ride in there and even when you look at his style of running, his biomechanics and so fourth, there is no reason why he can't be successful on turf and there has already been some success in Japan.

“We have a high respect for the market there and you don’t want to go in half-cocked, so we felt that now he is fully-loaded to be introduced properly. There has been demand already and that is encouraging and shows it is the right time,” said Cauthen.

“We want to respect breeders' opinions on what they think will work with the stallion. When top breeders show interest, you can give them input, but you should let them decide what will work with the stallion in the market.”

Flawless pedigree

A son of successful sire Candy Ride, Gun Runner boasts a beautiful pedigree and importantly for Australian breeders he is free of Danehill blood.

The stallion is out of G2 Molly Pitcher S. Quiet Giant (USA) (Giant’s Causeway {USA}) and she is herself a daughter of Listed scorer and top-producer Quiet Dance (USA) (Quiet American {USA}).

As well as Gun Runner’s dam, Quiet Dance foaled a further 11 winners including multiple Grade 1-winning 2005 Horse of the Year Saint Liam (USA) plus fellow elite winner Funtastic (USA) (More Than Ready {USA}), Grade 3 triumphant Congressionalhonor (USA) and stakes winner Dance Quietly (USA) (A.P. Indy {USA}), while the page also features Grade 1-winning filly Buster’s Ready (USA) (More Than Ready {USA}).

Gun Runner proved a dominant force on a racecourse, winning 12 of his 19 starts including six at the highest level which saw him accrue US$16,037,138 (AU$23,453,000) in career prizemoney.

'Magnificent racehorse'

Trained throughout his career by Steve Asmussen, Gun Runner won two starts as a juvenile and kicked off his Classic year with a victory in the G2 Risen Star S. and G2 Louisiana Derby, before finishing third in the G1 Kentucky Derby.

A victory in the G3 Matt Winn S. followed and the first of his six Grade 1s came in his final start as a 3-year-old when he raced to a 2.8l victory in the G1 Clark H. at Churchill Downs.

After being kept in training the following season, Gun Runner opened his account as a 4-year-old with a victory in the G3 Razorback H., while in his only foray overseas the entire finished second to Arrogate (USA) in the 2017 edition of the G1 Dubai World Cup.

However after returning to the U.S., Gun Runner proved unbeatable, stringing together five straight top-flight wins, which included landing the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic on his penultimate start, while he signed off his illustrious tenure on the track with a triumph in the G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational S.

Such was the dominance of his 2017 season, he was crowned American Horse of the Year and Champion Older Dirt Male.

Gun Runner retired to the breeding barn and stood his first four seasons at a fee of US$70,000 (AU$102,300) and after having his fee shaved back to US$50,000 (AU$73,100) in 2021, he was subject to a justified fee increase and stood for US$125,000 (AU$182,800) in 2022. His fee was subsequently listed as private.

Determination and speed

Cauthen said Gun Runner was a brilliant racehorse himself and instils similar traits within his progeny, making his offspring very popular with trainers.

“He has a great pedigree and he himself was a magnificent racehorse, who had very few limits, he could come from off-the-pace, he had determination and he had speed,” he said.

“In his progeny, you see lovely action. They are great walkers, they’re great movers and they have great minds and they want to do it; these are primary aspects for a racehorse, any horseman or trainer will tell you that and that is what he is passing on to his progeny.

“We are blessed to have him doing so well and we hope and pray it continues. We are encouraged by his talent and we feel the time is right to test out another continent - it is the right time.”

When Reliable Man (GB) headed to Westbury Stud in the spring of 2013, it was a small piece of providence on the part of Gerry Harvey. The horse, a dual-hemisphere Group 1 winner, has become one of New Zealand’s most consistent shuttle sires.

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Last weekend in Australia, he had three winners spread between Rosehill and Hawkesbury racecourses. They came in the shape of Chris Waller’s gelding Lord Ardmore (NZ), then Count On Me (NZ) for John O’Shea and, for Mark Newnham, the 2-year-old filly Silvakia (NZ).

For any New Zealand-based sire, such an effort in Australia is worth noting.

“It’s been really heartening in the last few months to see another batch of really good horses coming through for Reliable Man,” said Russell Warwick, Westbury’s general manager. “Earlier in the autumn, Benaud ran second to Hitotsu in the Australian Derby, and The Cunning Fox was second in the VRC St Leger, so he’s certainly got some nice ones coming up.”

In addition to Reliable Man’s three winners last weekend, Warwick also paid attention to a 2-year-old filly that was fourth at Rosehill. Her name is Renaissance Woman (NZ), a filly from the Fastnet Rock mare Mrs Kennedy, the latter a Gerry Harvey mare.

Mrs Kennedy, herself, is a daughter of Miss Jakeo (Unbridled’s Song {USA}), making her a half-sister to four Group winners, including the G1 Oakleigh Plate winner Mrs Onassis (General Nediym).

“She looks a real staying filly for next season,” Warwick said of Renaissance Woman.

These are smart, upcoming horses for Reliable Man, the stallion rising 15 years old at Westbury Stud. They’re also part of a significant roll that the stallion has been on for a while now.

On Guineas Day at Flemington just last March, he sired a handy pair of Group winners when Annavisto (NZ) won the G3 Frances Tressady S. and Inspirational Girl (NZ) won the G2 Blamey S.

At the time, Warwick said there weren’t many sires getting two big winners on an occasion like Guineas Day, let alone a New Zealand stallion pulling it off.

Doing it both ends

The winners have kept coming for Reliable Man, both in New Zealand and Australia, and the upswing has been obvious the last 12 months.

“I wouldn’t say that his books have improved drastically,” Warwick said. “He was very popular the first three or four seasons, and I think, like with any stallion, breeders start to learn what mares suit him. Through trial and error, things start to come to fruition.”

Reliable Man has served at Westbury Stud since the spring of 2013. That initial season resulted in the Group 2 winner Belle Du Nord (NZ), one of 81 foals born from 131 mares covered.

Since then, the striking stallion has covered three-figure books most seasons in New Zealand, with last season dipping slightly to 78 mares.

“He’s had three Group 1 winners already, and there’s probably only Darci Brahma, Per Incanto and Savabeel that have sired more individual Group 1 winners in New Zealand,” Warwick said. “It stands him in good stead but he’s just a very consistent stallion.”

The horse’s three Group 1 winners so far in New Zealand are Inspirational Girl, Sentimental Miss (NZ), who won the G1 New Zealand Oaks, and Miami Bound (NZ), a winner of the G1 VRC Oaks in 2019. They join the list of 10 Southern Hemisphere stakes winners for Reliable Man.

However, worldwide the horse has produced 19 stakes winners and 343 total winners. His Northern Hemisphere duties have been spread between stints at home in Germany, at Gestüt Röttgen, and two years in France. From Europe he has sired the G2 Derby Italiano (Italian Derby) winner Ardakan (GB) and the German Group 2 winner Akribie (Ger).

“He’s also got a couple of really nice horses up in Hong Kong, and I think that market is starting to open up for him,” Warwick said. “He’s very versatile and, like most stallions, if you can crack it in Australia it gives you a good platform.”

Of Reliable Man’s 343 winners worldwide, 128 have come from Australia, 83 from New Zealand and 43 from Europe. On that alone, it would be simple to assume he’s gone better in the Southern Hemisphere.

“I thought that myself but just looking at his numbers the other day, stakes-winners wise, he’s even-stevens,” Warwick said. “He’s had almost equal numbers in each hemisphere. He's a dual Group 1 winner in each place himself and he's doing a good job as a stallion now in both hemispheres.”

Warwick thinks Reliable Man might not have had the same opportunities in Europe as he’s had in New Zealand, and he puts that down to smaller books in Germany at the start of the horse’s career. Reliable Man's two years in France didn’t work out as well as expected, either.

“He’s had a bit of a niche with the German breeders and he’s been able to produce some quite nice horses up there,” Warwick said, alluding to the likes of Ardakan and Akribie, but also German Group 3 winners Adrian (Ger), Erasmus (Ger) and Narella (Ire).

Number crunching

Arguably, Reliable Man is one of the prettiest horses in the Stud Book. He’s gone from the smokey-grey complexion of his racing days to a near-white specimen, and his thick, white tail has become something of a trademark.

“He’s got this very unique, grey tail,” Warwick said. “It’s very white at its end, and we’ll often see grey horses on racedays with these really full tails. Nine times out of 10 they’ll be a Reliable Man horse. It’s quite amazing that he’s leaving so many horses with it.”

Reliable Man leaves England next week for his long return to Westbury Stud. He departed Germany already on the first leg of the journey, and Warwick is expecting him in New Zealand around the second week of August.

“He covered 80-odd mares last year and I’d say he’ll cover a similar number again this season,” he said. “It will be a nice book for a 14-year-old stallion serving in both hemispheres, with him doing about 40 to 50 mares in Germany.

“Those numbers give him 120 to 150 mares between the two hemispheres each year, which is a tidy number.”

The shuttling process has become an expensive one, with the trip to New Zealand costing a considerable amount more than the return journey for Reliable Man in December.

However, so far it’s been a justifiable expense for Westbury Stud because the stallion’s sale-ring returns have been excellent.

“With a Reliable Man, if you get a good-looking one and you go to the sales, you’ll probably get a very good return,” Warwick said. “A NZ$16,000 service fee from a horse that’s had three Group 1 winners and a multitude of Group 1 performers, if you can get $200,000 or $300,000 for a good Reliable Man, it’s a good investment for breeders.”

To date, the stallion’s Australian best-seller at auction has been the 3-year-old gelding Excelman (NZ), who won the greys’ race at the 2021 Melbourne Cup Carnival. As a colt, Excelman cost $400,000 when sold at the 2018 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, consigned by Westbury Stud and going to trainer Richard Laming.

His best-selling filly so far is Rina Bettina (NZ), consigned by Haunui Farm to the 2016 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Yearling Sale and sold to Bruce Perry Bloodstock for NZ$320,000.

Gallery: Two of Reliable Man's (GB) best-selling Southern Hemisphere progeny

This overall sales season, with a much smaller crop (just 26 yearlings as against 44 in 2021), Reliable Man’s sales average was still double his service fee, which will be NZ$16,000 (plus GST) in the spring upcoming. Alongside consistent winners on this side of the Tasman, it’s looking a bargain.